The Definitive Guide to Eating in Little Italy

If you ask a New Yorker where to go for authentic Italian food, they’ll send you to South Brooklyn or Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. We just don’t flock to the city’s original Little Italy in Lower Manhattan like we used to. Visions of old-world red sauce joints where grandma stirs meatballs in the back are clouded by the reality of Mulberry Street today: a crowded restaurant row stacked with carnival-barker-like hosts imploring visitors to spend your money at their pasta mills.

But this is the city of second acts. The beloved hangers-on from the old days have kept the neighborhood alive for newcomers peddling lemon-infused blintzes and black truffle burgers alongside the classics like eggplant Parmesan and pasta pomodoro. So breeze past those tourist traps with their promises of gratuito Chianti and opt for our picks instead. Featuring the best cannoli bakery, a retro luncheonette, and an iconic meat and cheese shop: These are the best places to eat in Little Italy.

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151 Mulberry Street Walk down Mulberry Street and bowtied restaurant hosts will beckon you into countless Italian-themed restaurants teeming with red gingham tablecloths, iffy house wine, and meh pasta. Aunt Jake’s is a beacon in the sea of tourist traps -- an oasis of fresh rigatoni, cavatelli, and farfalle mixed and matched with house-made lamb ragu, puttanesca, and Bolognese. Or, stop by on a Saturday night for their special steak Contadina for two.

181 Grand Street Baz brings traditional Jewish fare like latkes and blintzes to the historically Italian Grand Street. The retro luncheonette is fixed with swiveling diner stools and funky wallpaper fit for Florida’s coolest nursing home. They hand-roll and bake bagels on site, filling the carb-bombs with mounds of cream cheese and sandwich fixings. Sidle up to the counter for classic soda fountain favorites like the egg cream or lime rickey.

200 Grand Street Cured meats hang from the ceiling, slivers of imported cheese are sliced from enormous, rind-covered wheels, and clerks banter in Italian at this quintessential Little Italy specialty store. You should be so fortunato to call this your local spot, but it’s worth a trip (and occasional hour-long wait time) to stock up on prosciutto, pints of house-made ricotta, and fresh pasta. Samples abound, so flout conventional wisdom and shop hungry.

149 Mulberry Street Unmarked doors are the new flickering neon signs at New York City’s “speakeasies” -- and MP is no exception. This dark, narrow, subterranean space opens up into a backyard tucked within a fortress of neighboring walk-ups, perfect for outdoor imbibing when temperatures allow. The menu is categorized by flora flavor (lavender; blackberry; mint), or you can concoct a bespoke cocktail for $16.

164 Mott Street So what if you won’t be buying a house anytime soon? Let your tears season the avocado toast at Two Hands, an Australian cafe on Mott Street. The millennial killer -- a thick slab of Bien Cuit whole grain pullman bread topped with smashed avocado, chili flakes, olive oil, and lemon -- will make a better Instagram post than a snap of your mortgage application, anyway. There are also heartier options for those eschewing the cursed snack: a fried egg and bacon breakfast roll and a burger with fries suitable for a future homeowner.

1 Howard Street Nickel and Diner’s haute homage to five-and-dime lunch counters brings sleek turquoise counters, roomy booths, and elevated diner classics to Little Italy. Orange-scented buttermilk pancakes stand in for their flapjack ancestors and the classic chicken soup gets an upgrade with plump ricotta dumplings and a dash of ginger. At an even higher elevation, chestnut pappardelle swims in a veal ragout, and a black truffle burger is topped with fontina and caramelized onions. Throwback prices are the only nostalgic note they miss.

132 Mulberry Street True crime fans flock to Umberto’s, as famous for its food as it is for the 1972 slaying of New York mobster Joe “Crazy Joe” Gallo. The restaurant has since moved up the street, but tourists and gangster junkies alike continue to visit, fueled by the joint’s place in mafia history. Slake your morbid curiosity with littleneck clams and oysters from the raw bar and toast the ghosts of gangland past with a bloody mary.

148 Mulberry Street A comically hubristic sign hangs outside of Caffe Palermo, boldly declaring its cannoli No. 1 on planet Earth. As we have yet to sample the rest of the world’s offerings, for now we’ll agree that it’s at least the best on Mulberry Street. The self-described “Cannoli King” does stand out in an area rife with soggy shells and cloyingly sweet cream. Chocolate chip studded ricotta is funneled through freshly fried shells and dusted with a coating of powdered sugar. Be sure to snap a selfie with the enormous cannoli statue outside.

164 Mulberry Street This place may look like the tourist traps we warned you about -- the waiters sport vests and ties and the bar is guarded by garden gnome-sized Italian chef sculptures -- but anything that comes out of their kitchen’s coal-fired oven is the real deal. They’ve got you covered with classic pies (margherita; bianca; salsiccia) and though they don’t advertise it, you can design your own as well. Don’t order dessert: They’ll send you a plate of powdered sugar-dusted zeppole on the house.

189 Hester Street Sure, you could do the same at Tao on a Saturday night, but you’d miss Puglia’s inimitable mash-up of penne alla vodka and live piano renditions of ’90s-era Whitney Houston or Italian classics like “That’s Amore.” The restaurant, which opened in 1919, is outfitted with long tables suitable for large, rowdy parties sharing baked clams, manicotti, and veal Parmesan. As the night goes on the celebration gets livelier -- many evenings culminate in “The Napkin Song,” where everyone leaps from their seats, twirls their white napkins in the air, and bursts tunelessly into song.

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385 Broome Street Founded in 1891, this coffee shop/bakery projects an aura of old New York. A green tin ceiling shines overhead and brassy wall sconces look almost as though they’re lit by fire. Even locals stir among the inevitable tourists, sipping expertly balanced espresso drinks with hunks of dense biscotti. Cappuccinos are served in tall transparent mugs to best display their dense microfoam. Pair one with a treat from the pastry case like mini pignoli cookies or a precisely iced Napoleon.

125 Mulberry Street At first glance, Il Cortile’s garish Roman columns and faux marble statues will draw side-eye from New Yorkers, but the Northern Italian standout is one of Little Italy’s finest. The open-air garden atrium will make you and your date feel like a couple of talking dogs sharing a romantic meal in an alleyway. Dig into plates of fettuccini di Parma or linguine cicale and call it bella notte.

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Amy Schulman is an Editorial Assistant at Thrillist who can often be found sampling cheese from Di Palo’s. Follow her on Instagram.